5th Durban Forum on Capacity-building

Date: Friday 20 May 2016
Venue: Bonn, Germany

Background

At COP 21, Parties decided that the 5th Durban Forum would explore potential ways for enhancing capacity-building by sharing information and varied experiences, including those related to the Kyoto Protocol.

Objective The objective was to outline a clear path to enhance the capacity of developing country Parties in effectively implementing the Paris Agreement.

Information Exchange
Information exchange and the promotion of best practices are key to swift and successful capacity building. Therefore, discussions on how the Durban Forum and the Capacity-building Portal could be enhanced to support information exchange, remained one of the important objectives of this meeting. A survey was circulated by the secretariat to collect more detailed views on this subject. Responses provided were synthesized in the report of the Forum, including suggestions and ideas for improvements.

Synergies
Another important aspect was to fully engage the existing bodies constituted under the Convention and other organizations in supporting capacity-building related actions on all levels. Particularly relevant were the views of all participants on the role of and increased synergies among constituted bodies under the Convention, as well as with other institutions, in strengthening capacity-building support.

Programme - overview

10:15 – 13:00 - Enhancing existing national and regional capacity for the Paris Agreement
With the Paris Agreement having been adopted and 189 Parties covering 99 percent of global emissions having communicated their intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs) (as at 29 April 2016), it becomes compelling to determine how and which capacity needs to be built in the short, medium and long term in order to implement actions. This session will focus on capacity-building related to NDCs, capacity needs for accessing financial resources, and for meeting the reporting requirements under the Paris Agreement.

15:00 – 18:00 - State of art of capacity-building and the way forward
With the establishment of the Paris Committee on Capacity-building and the third comprehensive review of the implementation of the capacity-building framework underway, it is timely to reflect on the progress made on capacity-building, to assess current and emerging needs and challenges, and to explore ways to enhance capacity-building, including by sharing information and experiences, particularly in the areas of mitigation, adaptation and means of implementation

Programme - in detail

10:00 – 10:15 - Opening

Welcoming and opening remarks
Ms. Dechen Tsering on behalf of the Chair of the SBI			UNFCCC secretariat
Mr. Hussein Alfa Nafo			Chair of the African Group
Organization of work
Mr. Michael Gillenwater, Greenhouse Gas Management Institute			Co-facilitator of the 5^th meeting of the Durban Forum on Capacity-building (morning)
Ms. Lorena Aguilar, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)			Co-facilitator of the 5^th meeting of the Durban Forum on Capacity-building (afternoon)

10:15 – 11:00 - Panel discussion

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)	Mr. Pradeep Kurukulasuriya, Head of Climate Change Adaptation Programming	Lessons learned from the implementation of NAPAs and NAPs to inform support to NDCs
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)	Ms. Lorena Aguilar, Global Senior Gender Adviser	Gender mainstreaming in implementing NDC-related actions
Adaptation Fund	Ms. Silvia Mancini, Operations Officer	Capacity-building gaps to access financial resources in developing country institutions
International Partnership on Mitigation and MRV	Mr. Klaus Wenzel	Best practices and challenges in supporting MRV in developing countries

11:00 – 12:00 - Breakout group discussions

Breakout group 1
(Policy)

Capacity-building to convert INDCs to action

Breakout group 2 (Finance)

Capacity-building to mobilize climate finance

Breakout group 3
(Reporting)

Capacity-building for transparency-related activities

Discussion leader:
Dr. Niklas Höhne, Founding
Partner, New Climate Institute

Discussion leader:
Ms. Silvia Mancini, Operations Officer, Adaptation Fund

Discussion leader:
Mr. Stephen Mutua King’uyu, Chair of the Consultative Group of Experts (CGE)

12:00 – 12:45 - Reporting of the breakout group discussions and plenary discussion

Breakout group 1: Capacity-building to convert INDCs to action	Group 1 report-back slide
What are the lessons learned that countries can apply from experiences so far (i.e. NAMAs, NAPAS, NAPs), in order to move INDCs from planning to implementation and enhancement? What necessary steps need to be taken at the national level to convert INDCs to action? How to build the institutional capacities required to do so? What capacities are required for countries to comply with the obligation to regularly prepare NDCs, to monitor their implementation and to be able to increase ambition?
Breakout group 2: Capacity to mobilize climate finance	Group 2 report-back slide
What are the common and recurring capacity gaps in national institutions to access financial resources from the GEF, GCF, AF and others? How can these gaps be filled? How can financial institutions enhance their capacity to increase their accessibility? What are the enabling conditions required for countries to raise finance required to support the development of policies and measures and to implement actions identified in INDCs? What enabling environments are required to mobilize the 100 billion USD target?
Breakout group 3: Capacity-building for transparency-related activities	Group 3 report-back slide
What are the capacity needs by countries to establish domestic systems for data collection and analysis that would allow for meeting the reporting requirements under the Paris Agreement? What are the good practices and lessons learned from the preparation of national communications and biennial update reports that can be built into such systems?

15:00 – 16:00 - Panel discussion

Greenhouse Gas Management Institute	Mr. Michael Gillenwater, Dean and Executive Director	Progress on capacity development for mitigation planning and implementation
Least Developed Countries Expert Group (LEG)	Mr. Abias Huongo, Chair of the LEG	Progress on capacity development for adaptation planning and implementation
Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN)	Mr. Jukka Uosukainen, Director of CTCN	Capacity building needs to enhance sustainable technology development and deployment in countries
Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) / Climate Knowledge Brokers Group (CKB)	Mr. Florian Bauer, COO and Director of Open Knowledge	Contribution of regional capacity building institutions to greater exchange of capacity between countries

16:00 – 17:00 - Breakout group discussions

Breakout group 1
(Policy)

Capacity-building for Mitigation

Breakout group 2 (Finance)

Capacity-building for Adaptation

Breakout group 3
(Reporting)

Capacity-building on Technology

Discussion leader:
Mr. John Christensen, Director, UNEP DTU Partnership

Discussion leader:
Ms. Christina Chan, member of the Adaptation Committee

Discussion leader:
Mr. Yunus Arikan, ICLEI – Head of Global Policy and Advocacy

17:00 – 17:45 - Reporting of the breakout group discussions and plenary discussion

Breakout group 1: Capacity-building for Mitigation	Group 1 report-back slide
What progress has been made on mitigation-related capacity-building at the institutional, systemic and individual level? Where are the remaining gaps, needs and challenges? What assessment is available on mitigation-related capacity-building at the regional, national or sub-national levels?
Breakout group 2: Capacity-building for Adaptation	Group 2 report-back slide
Which are the capacity building measures and actions for adaptation that have already been undertaken in various parts of the world? How they can help to increase climate resilience? What progress has been made on adaptation-related capacity-building at the institutional, systemic and individual level? Where are the remaining gaps, needs and challenges, including in the private sector? What assessment is available on adaptation-related capacity-building at the regional, national or sub-national levels?
Breakout group 3: Capacity-building on Technology	Group 3 report-back slide
What progress has been made on capacity-building at the institutional, systemic and individual level? Where are the remaining gaps, needs and challenges? What assessment is available on capacity-building at the regional, national or sub-national levels?

17:45 – 18:00 - Closing

Final remarks by Co-facilitators of the 5^th meeting of the Durban Forum on Capacity-building
Final remarks by French Climate Change Ambassador Laurence Tubiana
Final remarks by Chair of the SBI and Chair of the Durban Forum on Capacity-building